This invention generally relates to apparatus and methods of protecting ink ejection orifices of inkjet printer cartridges with protective tape, and more particularly relates to an inkjet printer having ink cartridge tape removal capability and method of assembling the printer.
An inkjet printer produces images on a recorder medium by ejecting ink drops onto the recorder medium in an image-wise fashion. The advantages of non-impact, low-noise, low energy use, and low cost operation, in addition to the ability of the printer to print on plain paper are largely responsible for the wide acceptance of inkjet printers in the marketplace.
Inkjet printers comprise a print head including a plurality of ink cartridges, each ink cartridge having a plurality of ink ejection orifices. At every orifice a pressurization means is used to produce an ink drop. In this regard, either one of two types of pressurization means may be used. These two types of pressurization means are heat pressurization means and piezoelectric pressurization means. With respect to piezoelectric pressurization means, a piezoelectric material is used. The piezoelectric material possesses piezoelectric properties such that an electric field is produced when a mechanical stress is applied. The converse also holds true; that is, an applied electric field will produce a mechanical stress in the material. When a piezoelectric pressurization means is used for inkjet printing, an electric pulse is applied to the piezoelectric material causing the piezoelectric material to bend, thereby squeezing an ink drop from an ink body in contact with the piezoelectric material. The ink drop thereafter travels toward and lands on the recorder medium to place a mark on the recorder medium. One such piezoelectric inkjet printer is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,398 titled xe2x80x9cMethod And Apparatus For Recording With Writing Fluids And Drop Projection Means Thereforxe2x80x9d issued Mar. 23, 1976 in the name of Edmond L. Kyser, et al.
With respect to heat pressurization means, such as found in thermal inkjet printers, a heater heats the ink and a quantity of the ink phase changes into a gaseous steam bubble. The steam bubble raises the internal ink pressure sufficiently for an ink drop to be expelled towards the recorder medium. Thermal inkjet printers are well-known and are discussed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,500,895 to Buck, et al.; 4,794,409 to Cowger, et al.; 4,771,295 to Baker, et al.; 5,278,584 to Keefe, et al.; and the Hewlett-Packard Journal, Vol. 39, No. 4 (August 1988), the disclosures of which are all hereby incorporated by reference.
The print head itself may be a carriage mounted print head that reciprocates transversely with respect to the recorder medium (i.e., across the width of the recorder medium) as a controller connected to the print head selectively fires individual ones of the ink ejection orifices, in order to print a swath of information on the recorder medium. After printing the swath of information, the printer advances the recorder medium the width of the swath and the print head prints another swath of information in the manner mentioned immediately hereinabove. This process is repeated until the desired image is printed on the recorder medium. Alternatively, the print head may be a page-width print head that is stationary and that has a length sufficient to print across the width of the recorder medium. In this case, the recorder medium is moved continually and normal to the stationary print head during the printing process.
Inks useable with piezoelectric and thermal inkjet printers, whether those printers have carriage-mounted or page-width print heads, are specially formulated to provide suitable images on the recorder medium. Such inks typically include a colorant, such as a pigment or dye, and an aqueous liquid, such as water, and/or a low vapor pressure solvent. More specifically, the ink is a liquid composition comprising a solvent or carrier liquid, dyes or pigments, humectants, organic solvents, detergents, thickeners, preservatives and other components. Once applied to the recorder medium, the liquid constituent of the ink is removed from the ink by evaporation or polymerization in order to fix the colorant to the recorder medium. Various liquid ink compositions are disclosed, for example, by U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,946 titled xe2x80x9cInk Composition For Ink-Jet Recordingxe2x80x9d issued May 3, 1983 in the name of Masafumi Uehara, et al.
Frequently, the inkjet printer includes an ink cartridge when the printer is shipped from the manufacturer. The printer includes the cartridge for the convenience of the end user of the printer. In this manner, the end user need not separately purchase the cartridge before beginning operation of the printer. Rather, the end user merely needs to retrieve the printer from a shipping container, connect the printer to a source of electrical power and to an image source, insert paper, install the ink cartridge in the printer and then begin using the printer.
However, it is important during transport and storage of the printer to temporarily seal the ink ejection orifices against ingress of air and also dirt, dust and other particulate matter. Prolonged contact of the ink with air may evaporate preservatives present in the ink thereby drying-out the ink. Excessive drying-out of the ink substantially increases viscosity of the ink such that the ink obtains less than optimal performance during printing. Moreover, dirt, dust and other particulate matter may accumulate on the surface of the print head surrounding the ink ejection orifices and even inside the ink ejection orifices to thereby interfere with proper ejection and trajectory of ink drops from the ink ejection orifices. In addition, vibration and shock during transport of the printer may cause ink to weep, seep and otherwise leak out the ink ejection orifices. Therefore, in the prior art, a removable adhesive tape is temporarily adhered to the ink cartridge so as to cover the ink ejection orifices and surface area surrounding the ink ejection orifices. Presence of the tape blocks ingress of air and also dirt, dust and other particulate matter into the ink ejection orifices and blocks deposit of the dirt, dust and other particulate matter on the cartridge surface surrounding the ink ejection orifices. Presence of the tape also blocks ink weeping, seeping and otherwise leaking out the ink ejection orifices. Typically, this tape is applied to the cartridge by the manufacturer of the printer, and before the printer is shipped to a wholesaler, retailer, or end user, as the case may be. Of course, the tape must be removed by the end user before first use of the printer, so that ink drops can eject from the cartridges disposed in the printer. Instructional materials disclosing method of removal of the tape are typically included with the printer when the printer is received by the end user. Thus, removal of the tape requires the end user of the printer to read and understand the instructional materials included with the printer.
However, it has been observed that the end user often may not understand or even read the instructional materials prior to operating the printer with included ink cartridge. This is undesirable because operation of the printer with the tape still blocking the ink ejection orifices interferes with proper operation of the printer. The end user then erroneously assumes the printer is malfunctioning when in fact it is the end user""s neglect to remove the protective tape from the cartridge that results in the printer""s inability to print. Nonetheless, believing that the printer and/or ink cartridge is malfunctioning, the end user will contact the printer manufacturer and seek relief under the manufacturer""s printer warranty. The printer manufacturer must then address the complaint made by the end user. Such complaints potentially increase customer dissatisfaction. Also, such complaints increase the manufacturer""s cost of goods sold because the manufacturer of the printer then dedicates personnel resources, such as service technicians, to address the end user""s complaint. Moreover, increase in the manufacturer""s cost of goods sold may ultimately increase the market price of the printer. Of course, increase in the market price of the printer does not benefit the consumer. Therefore, a problem in the art is the requirement that the end user manually remove the protective tape from the ink cartridge when the printer, with included ink cartridge, are received by the end user.
An apparatus and method of at least notifying the end user that the protective tape is present, so that the end user may remove the tape, is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,942 titled xe2x80x9cSensor And Method For Detecting Protective Tape On A Printer Cartridgexe2x80x9d issued Jul. 17, 2001 in the name of Adam Jude Ahne, et al. The Ahne et al. device comprises a printer cartridge having a protective tape to prevent ink leakage from the printer cartridge. According to one embodiment of the Ahne et al. device, the protective tape includes an electrically conductive metal strip. When the cartridge is present in the printer, the protective tape comes in contact with a printer carrier cable that serves as a printer-cartridge interface. The printer cable itself includes a sensor having a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact that are electrically shorted through the metal strip in the protective tape when the protective tape touches the contacts. This occurs because the metal strip in the protective tape bridges an electrical connection between the first and second contacts. A sensor circuit is associated with the sensor and is responsive to current flowing between the first and second contacts. The current occurs from the closed circuit created by presence of the metal strip of the protective tape. The sensor circuit detects the current and thus the presence of the protective tape on the cartridge. The sensor circuit includes an indicator responsive to the sensor circuit. The indicator provides a signal to the user of the printer through whatever printer display or controls are present. For example, the signal can be a visual signal as in an LCD display or can be an audible signal or other printer signal. Although the Ahne et al device informs the user of the presence of the protective tape, the user must still manually remove the protective tape before operating the printer. Manual removal of the protective tape represents an inconvenience to the user of the printer. Moreover, manufacturing cost of the printer, and thus price of the printer to the user, is substantially higher than it would otherwise be because the printer must now include a special protective tape with a metal strip, a sensor and sensor circuit, and a visual or audible indicator. Therefore, the device disclosed by the Ahne et al. patent does not satisfy the long-felt need to avoid requiring the end user to manually remove the protective tape from the ink cartridge when the printer, with included ink cartridge, are received by the end user.
Therefore, what is needed is an inkjet printer having ink cartridge tape removal capability and method of assembling the printer.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an inkjet printer having ink cartridge tape removal capability, comprising a slide bar; an ink cartridge slidably engaging the slide bar, the ink cartridge having an ink ejection orifice; and a take-up reel associated with the ink cartridge, the take-up reel having a tape extending therefrom and removably adhering to the ink ejection orifice, the tape peeling from the ink ejection orifice as the ink cartridge slidably engages the slide bar.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an inkjet printer having ink cartridge tape removal capability comprises a frame to which is affixed an elongate generally cylindrical slide bar. Slidably engaging the slide bar is a carriage operable to translate along the slide bar by means of a belt and pulley assembly. The belt and pulley assembly is operated by a motor controlled by a controller. The carriage carries a plurality of adjacent ink cartridges. Each of the ink cartridges has a plurality of ink ejection orifices capable of ejecting an ink drop therefrom for marking a recorder medium. A take-up reel comprising a spool is rotatably connected to the frame. The spool has adhesive protective tape extending therefrom. The tape removably adheres to the ink cartridges for sealably covering the ink ejection orifices. The tape peels from the ink cartridges to uncover the ink ejection orifices as the carriage carrying the ink cartridges slidably translates the first time along the slide bar in a direction away from the take-up reel.
An actuator is connected to the frame and engages the take-up reel for retracting the tape after the tape peels from the ink cartridges. The actuator rotates the take-up reel and therefore retracts the protective tape and winds the tape about the take-up reel to avoid the tape interfering with the carriage as the carriage reciprocatingly travels along the slide bar during printing. In this regard, a first embodiment actuator comprises a generally cylindrical shaft engaging the spool and a motor engaging the shaft for rotating the shaft. The spool rotates as the shaft rotates and the tape winds about the spool as the spool rotates. A second embodiment actuator comprises an axle engaging the spool and a pinion gear surrounding the axle. A rack, which is connected to the carriage, has a plurality of gear teeth thereon for engaging the pinion gear. The rack moves with the carriage as the carriage slides along the slide bar in a direction away from the take-up reel. As the rack moves with the carriage the teeth formed on the rack engage the pinion gear. The axle rotates as the gear teeth engage the pinion gear. In this manner, the spool rotates as the axle rotates. The protective tape winds about the spool as the spool rotates. A third embodiment actuator comprises a spindle engaging the spool and a coiled spring connected to the spindle for rotating the spindle. The spool rotates as the spindle rotates. The protective tape winds about the spool as the spool is rotated by the spring. A fourth embodiment actuator comprises an elastomer having one end portion connected to the take-up reel and another end portion integrally connected to the protective tape. The elastomer pulls on the tape and preferably wraps the tape about the take-up reel after the tape peels from the ink cartridges. The fourth embodiment actuator preferably further includes an optical sensor in optical communication with a reflective portion of the tape for sensing when the tape has been removed from the cartridges.
Thus, the act of sliding the carriage along the slide bar in a direction away from the take-up reel peels the adhesive tape from the ink cartridges in order to uncover the ink ejection orifices. After the ink ejection orifices are uncovered, the actuator operates the take-up reel to retract the protective tape and wrap the tape around the take-up reel. In this manner, the tape is not allowed to interfere with movement of the carriage during printing.
A feature of the present invention is the provision of a take-up reel for winding-up the protective tape after the tape peels from the cartridges.
Another feature of the present invention is the provision of an actuator engaging the take-up reel for actuating the take-up reel, so that the take-up reel winds-up the protective tape.
An advantage of the present invention is that the protective tape is removed from the ink cartridges to expose the ink ejection orifices without manual intervention of the user prior to first use of the printer.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein there are shown and described illustrative embodiments of the invention.